Transverse shoe stretcher

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for relieving the pain of bunions and other foot discomforts caused by shoes too narrow in width. The apparatus comprises two form expanding members each beveled on one side and grooved on the other to receive interchangeably strips of spring steel of varying lengths. The beveled portions of the respective expanding members are placed against the opposing interior portions of that segment of the shoe to be stretched and an appropriate length of spring steel wedged between said members to deform said opposing sides to the desired width.

United States Patent [191 Simon 1 1 TRANSVERSE SHOE STRETCHER [76] Inventor: Mildred Rackley Simon, 4141 Los Arabis Rd.. Lafayette, Calif. 94549 [22] Filed: Mar. 29, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 345,931

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 227.020, Feb. 17,

1972. abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 12/115.6 [51] Int. Cl A43d 5/00 [58] Field of Search 12/1 15.6, 114.2, 114.6

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,506,519 8/1924 England 12/115.6 2,704,850 3/1955 So1omon..; 12/115.6 3.501192 3/1970 Merriman 12/115.6

i 11] 3,818,527 1 June 25, 1974 Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorney. Agent, or FirmTownsend and Townsend 5 7] ABSTRACT An apparatus and method for relieving the pain of bunions and other foot discomforts caused by shoes too narrow in width. The apparatus comprises two form expanding members each beveled on one side and grooved on the other to receive interchangeably strips of spring steel of varying lengths. The beveled portions of the respective expanding members are placed against the opposing interior portions of that segment of the shoe to be stretched and an appropriate length of spring steel wedged between said members to deform said opposing sides to the desired width.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TRANSVERSE SHOE STRETCHER GENERAL DESCRIPTION This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 227,020 filed Feb. 17, 1972, now abandoned.

The preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings and described hereinafter singly and in combination comprises at least two form expanding members each beveled on one respective side and grooved on the other. The form expanding members are placed in the shoe to be stretched so that their respective beveled portions of the sides press against the interior lining of the shoe at that portion of the shoe which needs to be expanded. A piece of spring steel, which is provided to the wearer in varying sizes, is then wedged between the form expanding members so that the respective ends of the elongated piece of spring steel fit in the grooves notched in the opposing surfaces of the form expanding members.

It has been the custom and practice in the shoe stretching art to utilize shoe trees or stretchers which, though adjustable, are generally heavy pieces of wood which conform to the overall shape of the shoe to be stretched, are bifurcated in configuration, and contain numerous mechanical joints and adjustments. These are not only guite expensive, but are very heavy to carry and hence, not practicable for traveling. Moreover, since the wearer must buy a separate pair of stretchers for each pair of shoes he may possess, the expense can grow burdensome. Moreover, the stretchers are often difficult to get in and out of shoes, do not have the capability of stretching isolated interior pressure points of the shoe which are causing discomfort to the foot, but rather tend to stretch the body of the shoe as a whole. Prior art stretchers generally cannot be used to stretch pumps, high heel shoes, and other specialized footwear. Moreover, there are many types of shoes which will not accept conventional shoe stretchers.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved shoe stretcher which is light weight and inexpensive.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shoe stretcher which can be easily adjusted to fit any type of shoe in need of stretching.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a shoe stretcher which exerts a maximum amount of pressure on the interior surface to be stretched with a minimum effort on the part of the installer.

An additional object of this invention is to provide and design a shoe stretcher which can stretch isolated portions of the shoe interior for the purpose of relieving pressure points such as corns and bunions.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shoe stretcher which can stretch shoes including those. with rising arches characteristic of high heels, and other specialized footwear.

IN THE DRAWINGS The object, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent after referring to the following specifications and accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of the shoe stretcher showing an asymmetrical form expanding member and a spherical form expanding member interspersed by a length of spring steel.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view showing a butterfly groove incised in the side of an asymmetrical form expanding member, a slitted groove incised in a spherical form expanding member, and varying lengths of spring steel.

FIG. 3 is a perspective depicting a ladys pump being stretched by one asymmetrical form expanding member and a spherical form expanding member interspersed by a length of spring steel.

FIG. 4 is a perspective of a womans pump looking from the heel and which shows the tongue portion of the pump or shoe being stretched by two spherical form expanding members interspersed by a length of spring steel.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, it can be seen that one embodiment of the invention hereinafter described generally includes a first asymmetrical form expanding member 5 in combination with a second spherical form expanding member 15 interspersed by a length of spring steel 10. It will be observed that length of spring steel 10 is depicted in a flexed condition, whereas the length of spring steel identified by number 18 is in an unflexed position. The form expanding member 5 has one substantially curved side and one substantially flat side, whereas form expanding member 15 is substantially spherical. Both form expanding members 5 and 15 are preferrably composed of wood, plastic or some other durable substance.

Referring particularly to FIG. 2, flat side 20 of form expanding member 5 can be seen in elevation. lncised into the surface of flat side 20 is butterfly shaped groove 30. Butterfly groove 30 is typically A inch deep, inch wide, and situated at or about the midpoint between the two ends of asymmetrical form expanding member 5. The two planes forming the wings of butterfly groove 30 should be inclined at, typically, a 30 angle from flat surface 20. The bottom of groove 30 is preferrably inclined with respect to surface 20 at approximately 22 /2.

Referring now to spherical form expanding member 25, slitted groove 28 will be observed. Slitted groove 28 is typically inch wide and 76 inch deep. Both butterfly groove 30 and slitted groove 28 are each so adapted to receive one end of a piece of spring steel or other resilient separator member. Varying lengths of spring steel, typically inch in width, are depicted by the number 35-38 inclusive.

Referring now to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the substantially curved side of form expanding member depicted by 5 is so adapted as to match the contour and conform to the interior surfaces of a piece of footwear. As will be observed from studying FIG. 3, if the wearer wishes to stretch a portion of the heel of his shoe, he places the rounded side of asymmetrical form expanding member 5 against the interior portion of the heel to be stretched, here shown as the heel of pump 40. Depending upon the amount of expansion desired, he selects an appropriate sized length of spring steel and tits one end of such length into butterfly groove 30. He then fits form expanding member 15 on the other end of length of spring steel by'placing it in slitted groove 28. He then flexes the now interspersed length of spring steel and wedges form expanding member 15 against that interior portion of the piece of footwear or shoe opposite that segment of the shoe which he desires to stretch. It will be understood that butterfly groove 30 is so designed as to allow great flexibility of position of the spring steel employed, yet also serves to hold it firmly in place. It will be further understood that two asymmetrical form expanding members of the type depicted by 5 can be used to stretch the entire heel of the shoe or pump uniformly, or a form expanding member of the type depicted by can be employed so that only one side of the heel portion will be stretched.

Similarly, and referring particularly to FIG. 4, two form expanding members of the type depicted by 15 can be used together to isolate a point of pressureexerted by the piece of footwear and deform it so that it no longer wears on the foot. For example, the tongue portion of the pump 45 depicted in FIG. 4 is being stretched in a direction away from the upward thrust of the metatarsal arch of the wearer so as to exert less pressure thereupon.

To stretch a piece of footwear where it creates a bunion or corn or exerts an isolated pressure point upon the foot of the wearer, a damp pad is first placed against the interior segment of the piece of footwear to be stretched. A form expanding member such as that depicted by 15 is fitted on one end of an appropriate length of spring steel. A second form expanding member of the type depicted by 15 is fitted to the other end of the length of spring steel, the length is flexed by the wearer, and the second form expanding member wedged against an opposing portion of the shoe to exact the requisite pressure upon the segment to be stretched.

The present invention can be provided to the wearer as a kit which contains a number of asymmetrical and spherical form expanding members as well as a multiplicity of varying lengths of spring steel. By this simple device, a wearer, with a minimum of expense, can obtain a great number of shoe stretchers which are particularly adapted for deforming the wearers shoes at those isolated points of pressure which cause the most pain and discomfort.

Having thus described the foregoing invention in some detail by way of illustration for the purpose of clarity and understanding, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the spirit of this invention as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved shoe stretcher comprising, in combination, a first elongate form expanding member rounded on one side and flat on the other, a first trapezoidal groove incised at an angle of at least 20 in said flat side of said first form expanding member, a second elongate form expanding member rounded on one side and flat on the other, a second trapezoidal groove in cised at an angle of at least 20 in said flat side of said second form expanding member, and an elongate resilient separator member having its respective ends insertable in said first and second trapezoidal grooves.

2. An improved shoe stretcher comprising, in combi nation, an elongate resilient separator member having two ends, a first elongate form expanding member adapted on one side to generally conform with the interior surfaces of footwear and grooved on its opposite side to interchangeably receive either end of said separator member, and a second form expanding member adapted on one side to generally conform with the interior surfaces of footwear and grooved on its opposite side to interchangeably receive the other end of said resilient separator member, said grooved opposite side of said first and second form expanding members includes grooves trapezoidal in shape incised at an angle greater than 20 from the horizontal to a depth of at least 1/16 inch. 

1. An improved shoe stretcher comprising, in combination, a first elongate form expanding member rounded on one side and flat on the other, a first trapezoidal groove incised at an angle of at least 20* in said flat side of said first form expanding member, a second elongate form expanding member rounded on one side and flat on the other, a second trapezoidal groove incised at an angle of at least 20* in said flat side of said second form expanding member, and an elongate resilient separator member having its respective ends insertable in said first and second trapezoidal grooves.
 2. An improved shoe stretcher comprising, in combination, an elongate resilient separator member having two ends, a first elongate form expanding member adapted on one side to generally conform with the interior surfaces of footwear and grooved on its opposite side to interchangeably receive either end of said separator member, and a second form expanding member adapted on one side to generally conform with the interior surfaces of footwear and grooved on its opposite side to interchangeably receive the other end of said resilient separator member, said grooved opposite side of said first and second form expanding members includes grooves trapezoidal in shape incised at an angle greater than 20* from the horizontal to a depth of at least 1/16 inch. 